Night-Owl
by SkyNinjaPirate
Summary: A prequel to Morning Bird, but you don't need to have read it. Gippal wants Rikku, and makes the perfect plan on how to tell her. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. Rippal! Oneshot. T to be safe.


OK, so as mentioned in the summary, this is a prequel to Morning Bird. So if you like this one, you should read that one as well. Or preferably; read Morning Bird first, more fun that way! Pretty please? *insert puppy eyes here* (I reposted this fic because of one to many errors, which are now hopefully all gone)

I also have to say that I like Morning Bird better, but meh! Just wanted this out now that I've actually written it.

Review and I'll give you a cookie!

Rippal, because they are the sweetest thing ever, and I wish there were more fanarts and fanfics of them!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Square does, and I LOVE 'em!

**Night-Owl**

Gippal sat in front of his com-sphere, talking into it for what felt like the millionth time that day. This had seemed like such a great idea just a week ago, and now he would rather bash his skull in with the sphere than go through with this.

A party was due, and since he, as usual, was super late to invite people, he had invited just about everyone he had ever met and all the workers at the Machina Factory -and that was quite the number- since he figured most of them had other things planned anyway, and would say no. How wrong he had been! It seemed that everyone wanted a good party this particular weekend, for reasons unknown.

Long story short, he had spent the day receiving calls from all the party-goers, letting him know that they would show up, with friends... Oh, the joy.

Of course, he loved to party with a lot of friends, but by now it seemed there would be just to many to even fit them inside the Factory halls. So, with a sigh, he let his head make contact with his desktop, hard.

To his horror the sphere made the unmistakable sound of someone trying to reach him again, and Gippal, as the ever graceful host he was, put on a smile before answering.

Surprised, it was none other than Rikku and her huge grin which met him.

"Hiya!" She all but yelled as soon as the connection between the spheres were stable. "How's it going? I've been trying to reach you for hours, but you were busy. What's up?"

He tried to hide a smile. She was always so perky, so enthusiastic, and it made his mood brighten in a heartbeat. "You know, party stuff. Anything you wanted?"

"Actually, pops wanted me to go over there tomorrow with a shipment of something or the other, and I figured I could stay and help you with the arrangements!"

Gippal nodded and pretended to be considering her proposal. She had been on Bikanel for quite some time now, digging up bits and pieces of old Home to build a new and better one, and the few times she had come by in the meantime she had seemed bored out of her mind. Taking into account that she had traveled the world on occasion and saved it a time or two, she was probably not used to the very one-dimensional scene on Bikanel. Besides,the sand was probably gnawing on places sand had not been gnawing on for a long time, and at that mental image Gippal grinned.

"Gippal?" Rikku's voice brought him out of the sand-dunes back home and to the reality of his crammed office in Djose. "Are you listening at all? I don't have all the time in the world, you know. Nadala is riding me to get some work done by nightfall and I literately ran away to squeeze in this call." Another mental image, and Gippal had to shake the image of Nadala riding Rikku, combined with some squeezing, out of his mind.

"Um, yeah sure." He grinned at the blueish, scurry image that was Rikku. "Would be great to get a helping hand around here for a day or so. When are you coming down?"

"Next shipment, so we're leaving tonight, and should be in Djose around nightfall tomorrow." She scratched her cheek, leaving a grease stain, which just made her that much cuter. "And I'll stay until after the party, crashing at Djose. Sounds good?"

Gippal had no idea what to say. Rikku staying under his roof was normally a bad idea, if only for the fact that she was capable of slicing his throat if he did something stupid, which was more than probable where alcohol and Rikku were involved at the same time. But still, this could be his chance to finally gather up the nerve to tell her how he felt.

Rikku on the other hand, figured he used to much time pondering the issue, and made the decision for him. "OKI!" She started to get up from her sitting position in front of the sphere. "I'll see you tomorrow, so just make a bed ready for me. Bye!"

Before he could even answer, the connection was broken, and he was left with a silent room and a dark-blue, empty sphere. His mind was wandering of again, and this time it was to exactly which bed he would prepare for her sleepover, his!

Gippal grinned again. This party was probably not such a bad idea after all. Maybe if he kept his drinking to a few beers, he would be able to gather up his courage, and finally tell her that he was madly in love with her, that blonde, insane hurricane of an Al-Bhed. Gippal had his pride, and lots of it, and a confession like this was something he was not good at, at all! So some liquid courage would be just the thing he needed to finally be honest.

He just had to keep it to a minimum. It wouldn't do to be drunk out of his mind, and slur and puke, and be an asshole in general. This had to be done the right way.

And so he got up from his desk, and headed towards his room. It needed some tidying, if not a complete make-over.

An hour later, the room was approved of, and Gippal called it a day.

...

Rikku arrived later the next day, like she had told him. She and her crew, and some of the factory's night-shifts, all worked together to get the supplies out of the airship and into the storage-rooms. The airship headed back to Bikanal, leaving Rikku and Gippal alone after the last worker left for the night.

After a little chit-chat about everything and nothing, Rikku took her bag to one of the guestrooms and went to sleep. All to early for Gippal, but he knew she was tired after flying all night, so he didn't try convincing her to stay up with him. And so, with one last glance at her door and a heavy sigh, he too, went to bed.

...

"You're hard at work, I see." Gippal said with a grin as he entered the factory hall the next morning, already a beer in his hand. Balloons and party-banners were hanging from every corner, and disco-spheres hung from the ceiling.

"Yeah, well," Rikku huffed, and blew a few loose strays of hair out of her eyes as she reached as high as she possibly could to hang up a small cluster of balloons. "Some of us don't sleep all day. Besides, it wouldn't kill you to help, would it?"

"Nah," he grinned as he sat down on one of the chairs, enjoying the view of her long tan legs and poor excuse of jeans-shorts. "I'm perfectly fine right here, with my cold beer and a very nice view."

If looks could kill, he'd be dead in a matter of seconds. "Well, it's your party, so you should help out with some of the preparations!"

"I am," Gippal grinned, and put his feet on the table, taking a sip from his imported Kilika beer. "I'm the moral support around here. Just listen to this: _Go Rikku, go Rikku, go go go Rikku! Hang the banners, make it pretty, go go go Rikku!_" He finished it of with what was supposed to be spirit fingers, but probably looked like a five-legged octopus on land.

"You're being a meanie!" She pouted, giving up on reaching the archway above the main doors.

"No, I'm not." His smile warmed a little as he looked at her, and Rikku was a little taken aback by the way he stared at her. "Here," he got up. "Let me help you with that."

He walked straight up to her and took the balloons out of her hands before attaching them to the wall, as high as he could reach.

"Thanks." Rikku uttered weakly, barely looking at him. He was standing so close she could feel his body heat, and it made her dizzy.

"Like you said, it's my party." He grinned at her. Without her usual boots on, he was reminded how short she really was, just so perfectly short, and pretty, and hot, and... He stopped himself. Later, he reminded himself, later I will tell her everything.

He turned on his heel and went back to his beer, which was getting warmer by the minute. "Anything else we need to do before the big party?" He could hear his voice shake a little and hoped Rikku didn't notice.

She did.

Suddenly something clicked into place in her head. Something she should have understood a long time ago. To hide her growing grin, she turned away from him, pretending to study the decorations. "Nothing right now, I think. There is the snacks to set out, and the music to be turned on, but all that can wait 'till later." Finally in control of her face again, she turned to Gippal. "We have the rest of the afternoon off. I think I will go for a swim..." that last part she added as an afterthought, mostly to herself. It was all perfectly planned though, and Gippal, as she knew he would, took the bait.

"Going to the Moonflow? If you want the company, we can take one of the hovers and drive there right now." He seemed calm enough, still not detecting any danger.

Rikku smiled at him. "Great! I'll just get my... oh, poopie!"

"What?" Gippal actually looked concerned, and Rikku had to bit her lip hard to keep her pokerface.

"I forgot, I didn't bring my bikini, or any of my dress-spheres..." Gippal actually paled. "Oh well, it can't be helped. I'll just grab a towel and..."

"You know, I suddenly remember; I have some paper work to do!" And with that he more or less ran towards his office, leaving Rikku, who tried really hard not to laugh, alone in the factory hall.

This party was going to be the best one, ever!

Gippal on the other hand, had reached his office, his sanctum, and locked the door firmly behind him. "Breath," he told himself. "Be cool, be calm." He cursed himself for freaking out like that. By now she probably though he was a lunatic. But then again... "Why the hell did she still want to go swimming even though..." the thought hit him like a behemoth. She though of him still as that little brat she used to play with back when they were younger. They always went down to one of the oases and skinny dipped in the pool. But they had been seven, maybe eight years old! Blasted machina! This would be more difficult than he had previously thought. But he would succeed! There was no other option!

...

Hours later, and the guests started arriving. A few of the workers to begin with, and then some of his friends from Luca, mostly blitzers. Wakka and Lulu had managed to get a babysitter for the night, and arrived with the newly engaged Tidus and Yuna, and a few of the Aurochs. Paine and Baralai came all the way from Bevelle, and Nooj had been convinced, somehow and probably by Leblanc, to show up. A great deal others were there as well, most of them he didn't even know, but it didn't matter, none of them did. Tonight, Gippal was on a mission!

He walked among the party-goers, mingling and making small talk, sipping on his beer and being in a generally good mood. He eventually made his way towards where he had last seen Tidus and Yuna, and knew that if Rikku was anywhere to be found, it would be with them.

When he finally found them, he stopped dead in his tracks. Rikku was there alright, and she looked stunning. Her hair was loose for once, and fell down her back in gentle waves. Her dress was yellow -which had always been his favorite color for her- and hugged her curves perfectly.

"There he is!" Tidus shouted as he saw him. "The man of the hour." Gippal snapped out of his trance and walked over to them. "Great party!" Tidus was always so optimistic, Gippal thought, kind of like a male version of Rikku, blonde hair to top it of and everything! He really like Tidus, and they had become great friends ever since the blitzplayer had gotten back from... well, to be honest he still didn't get the whole dream-thing, but anyways.

"Yeah, thanks!" Gippal and Tidus toasted, their bottles nearly shattering. "Wouldn't have been so if not for this one, though." He wrapped an arm around Rikku's shoulders, who looked up at him with a puzzled look on her face. "I invited people, too many people actually, and then Rikku here comes to the rescue and arranges everything."

Rikku looked at him suspiciously. "Isn't it a bit early for you to be drunk?"

"What'ya mean?" He stared at her, confused. Here he was, trying to compliment her great job on the party, and all he got was this odd look. He guessed he couldn't blame her though, after all he usually joked around with her, calling her names, and generally ignored thanking her for whatever she did for him. It had been his defense-mechanism, and now that he finally decided he didn't need it anymore, it came to bite him in the ass. Of course...

Rikku just shook her head. "I'm gonna go find Paine. She makes the best drinks in all of Spira!"

She was off and Gippal couldn't help but look down in defeat. Tidus was suddenly busy chatting with some of the players for the Pshyces, trying out his Al Bhed, which wasn't to bad, and hadn't noticed a thing. Yuna, on the other hand, was way more observant.

"What are you trying to do?" Her soft voice snapped him back to reality.

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb, Gippal." She crossed her arms, suddenly a hard expression on her face. Though she was sweet as sugar and almost to nice most of the time, she really did look scary when she wanted to. "What are you trying to do, with Rikku?"

_Damn!_

"Eh... hehe!" Gippal scratched his chin, a nervous habit he never had managed to get rid of. "I'm just trying to be nice, is all." He took a sip from his bear, actually wanting to get drunk now. If Rikku was going to ignore him all night, there was no need for him to impress her, either.

"You're never nice to Rikku." Yuna scolded, and Gippal felt like he was eight years old again, being caught doing something he shouldn't by his mother. "You're demeaning, you mock her, and you're being a jackass most of the time."

He had never expected the Lady Yuna to say something like that, and was temporally stunned.

"So what, Gippal, is it that you want?"

He was lucky that he never had to answer as a few of his workers came and swept him away, shouting out for some drinking game or the other. Yuna looked after him, arms crossed and a disapproving look on her face. He sighted in relief, he didn't want to tell her the truth. It would leave him exposed and vulnerable, and most important; it would make him look like an emotional wreck.

...

It took Rikku all of ten minutes to find Paine, and convince her to make her a drink. Paine would usually scowl at her and make a comment about loosing respect points, but tonight -for reasons Rikku could only explain as a health dose of alcohol and Baralai- the older girl was in an uncharacteristic good mood.

Now they moved towards the bar, and Rikku was idly chatting with Paine and Baralai. They moved back in the general direction of where Rikku had stood with Tidus and Yuna before Gippal came and acted all weird. It was clear that whatever had come over him earlier that day had not passed, and Rikku was going to make him work really hard for her attention, which he seemed to crave ever since she arrived at Djose. For once the roles were reversed, it was her change for a little payback, for all the times he had ignored her and mocked her, and in general being an asshole, which he had been for years.

And still, Rikku was, and always had been, crazy in love with him.

It had slowly faded for the last few months or so, and she was proud of herself not to have fainted the second he put his arm around her just minutes earlier. Even so, it would be a very long time before she could actually say she was over him, if ever. That was why this was all the more fun, and the butterflies in her stomach was all the harder to ignore.

After quite a few drinks and a lot of laughter shared with Paine and Yuna, the hyper Al-Bhed figured it was time to find Gippal again, if only to make him suffer a bit more. Scanning the crowd there really was no doubt as to where he was located.

A group of workers had gathered around the beer-pong table, and the game was on. Gippal, of course, was playing. By now they had moved on from beer was was instead downing tequila. Just the thought made Rikku sick.

She made her way over, standing casually next to the clearly drunk Gippal. "Drunk yet?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin, before turning to see who it was. A grin spread across his face, and his glossy eyes cleared a little. "Rikkuh! You're back!" He made to hug her, but stopped as he raised his arms. "Emmm... Me, drunk? Noooh!"

Rikku lifted an eyebrow. This was going to be so easy.

"Hey, Rikkuh, hey." He started jumping up and down. "Wanna dance wi' me? Say yes!"

Rolling her eyes in amusement, she nodded yes, and before she knew it Gippla had taken a hold of her waist and dragged her onto the dance-floor.

"Hey, Rikkuh." His words were slurred, but Rikku could hear his sincerity clear as day. "I'm sorry, ya'kno', for callin' you names all the time." He didn't meet her eyes, looking almost shy, which made Rikku's heart skip a beat or three. "You look beau'ful t'night."

She blushed scarlet. Hadn't she hear somewhere that you would hear the truth from children and drunk people? There was no lies in Gippal's words, and it warmed her to her very core. "Thank you, Gippal. And it's fine, the name calling, I call you stuff all the time, but mostly not to your face." She shrugged in a joking manner.

Gippal's laugh nearly drowned out the music. "That's wha' I like about you, kiddo, the way we joke and banter. " His face got a little bit more serious. "That's wha' I love 'bout you." And he leaned down and kissed her.

This night was not one Rikku would forget, of that she was sure.

Gippal on the other hand, would have no recollection of this come morning, at all...


End file.
